Dr. Sarah Hamilton
Professor Sarah Hamilton has received a Canadian grant to create an intermediate level oboe etude book using five Canadian composer/oboists.
The Canadian Council for the Arts grant is for the Concept to Realization component of the council’s Explore and Create program and is part of a larger project – a method book of 12 etudes – in conjunction with oboist Dr. Aaron Hill of the University of Nevada, Reno, featuring composers from Canada and the United States.
For the project, Dr. Hill also received funds from the Nevada Arts Council, the University of Nevada Reno College of Liberal Arts Scholarly and Creative Activities grant and Fox Products.
“Intermediate” encompasses students who are beyond the beginning stage, but not yet advanced.
“We are aiming this method for students who are between 12th grade high school and first or second year college study in music and have likely been playing their instrument since fourth to sixth grade,” explained Dr. Hamilton, who is also assistant director of the Fredonia School of Music.
“The etudes will also feature introductions for extended techniques on the oboe,” Hamilton added.
Already, students of Hamilton have been involved in reading the initial drafts of the compositions and offering comments, she said. The students include Eve Castonguay, a senior majoring in Music Education and Music Performance, from West Islip, NY, and Bug Medrano, a senior majoring in Music Composition, from New Paltz, NY.
“I am appreciating their perspective as they are relatively recent high school graduates, and the age group this method book will be aimed at,” Hamilton noted.
Value of the grant, in Canadian currency, is $6,210. The etude book will be published by Conway Publications and Hamilton will make recordings of the new works.
